Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (1/209)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

7 – The wiping of the ears is expressly indicated in the noble verse, “and wipe your heads” (Q 5:6). In the Sacred Law, in the language, and in common usage, the ears are counted as part of the head; accordingly, the Qur’anic command to wipe the head is a command to wipe the ears as well. For that reason the Sunnah is to wipe them with the same water taken for the head, not with fresh water set aside for them.

8 – The wisdom behind singling the ears out for wiping is to perfect their purification, both outwardly and inwardly, and to draw out the sins they have incurred, just as sins are removed from the other limbs washed in wuduʾ. Since the ears are the organs of hearing, they undergo a tangible purification by being wiped with water and a moral purification from sin.

9 – Muslim records under 235, on the authority of ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd, describing the Prophet’s wuduʾ: “He wiped his head with water other than the residue on his hands.” This is the soundly preserved wording. By contrast, al-Bayhaqi’s report that ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd saw the Prophet take separate water for his ears, distinct from that used for his head, is irregular. Moreover, the hadith “The ears are part of the head” (Abu Dawud 134; al-Tirmidhi 37), together with the Companions’ statement that “he wiped his head and his ears once together,” all prove that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) used one supply of water for both his head and ears.

10 – The boundaries of the head run from the normal hairline adjacent to the forehead down to the point where the head meets the neck, and laterally from ear to ear. Hair that hangs below that line is not wiped, for it lies outside the area of the head.

11 – The back of the ear is the surface that adjoins the head, while the cartilaginous folds belong to the inner ear.

Scholarly disagreement:
The leading jurists agree that wiping the head is an obligatory element of wuduʾ and that the prescribed practice is to wipe the whole of it. They differ, however, on whether wiping the entire head is mandatory. Abu Hanifah and al-Shafiʿi held that it is permissible to wipe only part of it, citing the fact that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) performed wuduʾ and wiped over his forelock.

٧ - أنَّ مسح الأذنين منصوصٌ عليه في الآية الكريمة: ﴿وَامْسَحُوا بِرُءُوسِكُمْ﴾ ذلك أنَّ الأُذنين داخلتان في مسمَّى الرأس شرعًا ولغةً وعرفًا، فالأمر بمسح الرَّأس في الآية أمرٌ بمسحهما؛ ولذا فالسنَّة أنْ تمسحا بماء الرَّأس، لا بماء جديد لهما. ٨ - الحكمة في تخصيص الأذنين بالمسح، هو كمال طهارتهما من ظاهرهما وباطنهما، ويستخرج منهما الذنوب التي اكتسبتها، كما تخرج الذنوب من سائر أعضاء الوضوء؛ فإنَّ الأذنين أداتا حاسَّة السمع، فيطهَّران طهارةً حسيَّة بمسحهما بالماء، وطهارة معنوية من الذنوب. ٩ - لمسلم (٢٣٥) عن عبد الله بن زيد في صفة وضوئه ﷺ: "ومسح رأسه بماء غير فضل يديه" وهذا هو المحفوظ، وأمَّا رواية البيهقي: "أنَّ عبد الله بن زيد رأى النَّبي ﷺ يأخذ لأُذنيه ماءً غير الماء الذي أخذه لرأسه فهي شاذة، وحديث: "الأذنان من الرأس" [رواه أبو داود (١٣٤) والترمذي (٣٧)] وأقوال الصحابة أنَّه ﷺ: "مسح رأسه وأذنيه مرَّة واحدة" دليلٌ على أنَّه ﵊ كان يمسح رأسه وأذنيه بماءٍ واحد. ١٠ - حد الرأس من منابت شعر الرأس المعتاد ممَّا يلي الجبهة، إلى مفصل الرأس من الرقبة، ومن الأذن إلى الأذن، ولا يمسح ما نزل من شعر الرأس أسفل من ذلك؛ لأنَّه قد تجاوز مكان الرأس من الإنسان. ١١ - ظهر الأذن هو ما يلي الرأس، أمَّا الغضاريف فهي من باطن الأذن. * خلاف العلماء: اتفق الأئمة على أنَّ مسح الرأس من فروض الوضوء، وعلى أنَّ المشروع مسحه جميعه، واختلفوا في وجوب مسحه كله: فذهب أبو حنيفة والشافعي: إلى جواز مسح بعضه؛ لأنَّه ﷺ توضأ ومسح على ناصيته.